| The purpose of the study was to investigate users and their usage of electronic texts in the Japanese Text Initiative (JTI) through the World Wide Web (Web) by both quantitative and qualitative assessments and to develop a model for use. JTI, conceived in 1995, is an ongoing collaborative electronic text project by the University of Virginia Library and the University of Pittsburgh East Asian Library to make texts of classical Japanese literature available on the Web. Research questions include demographic characteristics of users, usage and purposes of usage of texts, differences in approaching JTI between native speakers of Japanese and non-native speakers of Japanese, and users needs.; The survey research method using a questionnaire was employed for this research. The electronic survey was conducted over the Web at the JTI site from March to June 1999. There were a total of 135 responses. The majority of respondents were native speakers of English (60.5%) while 17.7%, Japanese and 21.8%, other, 70%, female and 30%, male, with a mean age of 35.4, either students or teachers at various levels of the education systems, high educational level (master's degree as a mode). There is no reflection of users' environmental difference in the reasons for their use of the texts, academic and non-academic, between the two native language groups (Japanese, 17.7% and non-Japanese, 82.31%) of JTI users. It is clear that the majority of users (78.3% for the texts and 71.9% for interactive searching), regardless of their native language, approached JTI to use texts for non-academic reasons. While the data are insufficient to support the formal development of a model for popular use of electronic texts, some general comments were made, and a framework developed as the basis for further study. It is confirmed that the World Wide Web has been acting the role of an agent, or vehicle for the popularization of information or the democratization of scholarly information. Most respondents stated that it was necessary for JTI to add more texts to build a critical mass of them. |
